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Wednesday, March 16, 2016

T-Top Cruiser:1985 Nissan 300ZX Turbo

The Z31 generation Nissan 300ZX won't be the fastest car on the block, or the best handling, but it offers a level of vintage 80s cool that is hard to match on a dollar for dollar basis. You'd go broke trying to buy a mint condition one-owner 911 from the 80s, same with an M3; you'll be repairing apex seals faster than you can say zoom zoom in an RX-7, and the early Celica Supras are gutless -- so the Z31 is the answer. Find this 1985 Nissan 300ZX here on eBay bidding for $2,025 reserve-not-met with 4 days to go, located in Carson, CA.

The Z31 edition Nissan 300ZX isn't quite as collectable (or as fast) as the later Z32
generation, but they are considerably cheaper and look less like a Wagyu cow being fattened for the slaughter. However, the Z31 does have an active enthusiast base and this turbo-manual trans version is the one to get.

Powering the Z31 is a 3.0 liter version of Nissan's VG-series V6 that is turbocharged to produce 200 horsepower. It was the first time that Nissan put a mass produced V6 into any vehicle, and while not without its share of issues, the cast iron block with aluminum heads can take additional power if you upgrade from the stock Garrett T3 turbocharger and add some intercooling.

But this example is so nice and clean I'd have a hard time justifying tearing up the engine bay; it would make a great throwback cruiser.

If the plate color/type matches the model year and claimed CA history then that is a bonus for prospective buyers in terms of minimizing rust risks, but also a bit of humblebragging rights once you buy the car "oh yeah, that old thing, it's been here since it was new."

Personally I like the historical aspect of having the correct period plates for the car. Black plates were 1963-69; blue 6-digit were 1970-80, 7-digit blues were 1981-87. In 1982 the Sunset plates w/ reflective white background became optional for an extra charge, and they are my personal favorite on an '80s car. They were standard in 1987 and then in '88 the sunset graphics went away and white reflective plates became the norm.

There was a recent reissue of the black plates (now in aluminum instead of steel, and with reflectorized paint) so those can be ordered and plopped on any car. Prior to that it was only legal to retrofit a black plate to a 63-69 model year car through the YOM program. Prior to 63 there was a whole mess of plate designs that I won't even go into.

This was the first car i saw after the first time i failed my drivers license test. I've been lusting hard for these ever since. I just let a nice white 5 spd, non turbo slip through my hands recently. I think these will start getting love soon.

The guy selling this car was a complete douchebag. I bought the car from him on ebay for $4000. He wanted me to send him the money right away without providing me with the bill of sale or any kind of assurance I'd get the car. He told me to send the money to some palm reading shop which was his wife's business. That was an incredibly sketchy deal. I asked him if he could provide me with some assurance and he became angry and said he wasn't going to sell me the car bc I didn't trust him, then went on to rant about how I didn't understand the car buying process. Buying a a car on ebay is a contract and he broke his end of the deal. I have bought several of these cars from genuinely honest people without a problem. He was also very petulant and immature. He assumed I was young because I was using a user ID on ebay that may have sounded young to him, but it was a name I picked over a decade ago when I first signed up on ebay. The lesson to be learned here is that not everyone is as nice as the other person, and this guy was a real creep. Be careful who you buy from on ebay even if they have 100% feedback. He bragged about having 100% feedback, but it was all received from buying golfing equipment to support his lame golfing habit. Guy's name is gjennjon on ebay. Watch out for him.

hmm - my experience with ebay is they will go to bat for you if the transaction falls apart

i bought a beautiful turntable off a guy, sent him extra $ to do the packing right, and he put it in a plain cardboard box with no padding, didn't even tie the tonearm down - ebay refunded my entire purchase price and let me keep the turntable - now i have a beautiful turntable, ok broken, but i sourced a replacement tonearm , tools, instructions, everything i need... but have had no time to sit for a couple of hours and fuss it together - and haven't for over a year now :( - i guess i came out ahead, sort of, except for still having no turntable to listen to - so...

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